


More Than Science

by ElectricRituals



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Be patient, But Jane likes him anyways, Cap and Tasha?, Clint and Relationships DON'T mix, Darcy doesn't like being separated from her taser, Eventual relationship, Eventual sexy time, F/M, I approve but STILL, New Mexico, No Jane and Thor, Slow Build, Starts right after Thor, This is how I cope when Marvel throws CURVEBALLS, We'll get there, With some twists, because seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-13
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-14 19:53:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/840727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElectricRituals/pseuds/ElectricRituals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor and Jane didn't start some crazy, never-gonna-work, failboaty romance. They just didn't. Thor's happy off with Sif or whoever and he just loves Jane like a sister or whatever. Deal? Deal.</p>
<p>Clint didn't take this particular assignment because he thought it looked fun or it gave him real purpose or any of the other stuff you always hear the rookies spout off, Clint took this because it was far enough away from any and all situations he was looking to avoid.<br/>Throw in a gorgeous astrophysicist, her quirky sidekick, and some serious threats to national security, and you can find love and all those other emotions thrown about like confetti at a parade.<br/>And Clint and emotions aren't the most cohesive things in the world.</p>
<p>Here be Clint trying to figure out just what's going on, Jane trying to accept there are things other than science, and Darcy laughing at the idiots that think they have things so under control.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm giving this particular pairing a spin. Haven't read it before, haven't heard of it before, but I like the idea. So here goes nothing.   
> Suggestions and thoughts and constructive criticism and praise and encouragement are all highly appreciated   
> :D

Clint sighed, sitting in the rafters of the workshop-thing where Doc Foster and her team-or-whatever made the magic happen. Or science. Or Norse mythology. Or whatever. He was official protection detail and overseeing pretty much the entire operation. He was heading security, keeping the civvies safe, and acting as liaison. And he was eighty percent sure this was punishment for Budapest.

Clint had been up there all day and his shift should have ended five minutes prior, but the next agent on protection duty hadn’t showed up.

He dropped from the rafters and Darcy Lewis, Lab Rat Extraordinaire, let out a scream. Clint figured she should be used to him popping out of nowhere by now; it isn’t like it’s an uncommon occurrence.

“Why do you even do this? You’re heading security, right? You should be sitting back giving orders to the other jack-booted thugs, not sneaking around and scaring me half to death,” said Darcy, walking over to Clint.

“I can’t give good orders unless I fully understand the conditions. To fully understand the conditions, I need to be in the rotation too.” Clint responded.

“So why’d you come down from your perch?”

“Because I was supposed to be done with my rotation a good ten minutes ago. But no one’s here yet. And that’s worrisome.”

“Wanna borrow my taser?”

Clint laughed, “No, you should hang onto that. Never know when another Norse god’s gonna fall from the sky.”

“Okay… so what do you do when things get worrisome?” Darcy asked.

“I try not to worry.” Clint answered wryly.

A door thudded open and Darcy and Clint turned to see Jane walking into the room, nose buried in a book of some sort.

Clint frowned, Jones should be here by now and, short of a life threatening situation, there is no excuse for him not to be. And Jones knows this. And Jones has never been late before. He’s a pretty responsible guy, sometimes shows up a little early, and he never complains about being called in for extra shifts. So yeah, this is worrisome.

“Hey Jane, you see any jack-booted thugs lying around? Clint seems to have misplaced his,” said Darcy.

Jane looked up at the pair and blinked slowly, “What?”

“Jones was supposed to be here a little while ago. He’s not,” Clint explained pressing the Call button on his phone. The call immediately went to voicemail and Clint sighed again.

“This isn’t good, is it?” Jane finally asked.

“I have no idea. In ten minutes, I’ll call Martin in. In twenty minutes, if we still haven’t heard from Jones, we’re all heading out. Darcy, Martin’s your assigned escort. Jane, Jones was yours but I’ll stand in for him this time. I’m going to go ahead and send Donner to get Erik. I went over the drill once, but you guys probably don’t remember it, do you?”

Darcy and Jane both shook their heads.

“The three of you will be going to a different safe house and none of you know the location of the others. Your agents do and they know how to contact everyone else. This may seem over the top but you’re all priority and this research is wanted by just about every bad organization out there.”

\- 15 Minutes Later -

“Donner’s heading to the safe house with Erik, Martin’s about two minutes out. As soon as he gets here he’s going to take you, Darcy, to your safe house. Five minutes later I’ll be heading out with Jane. A five person security team will be on perimeter here at all times, rotating every two hours. And everything’s going to be fine,” Clint finally tacked on.

…

Martin had left with Darcy five minutes prior, Donner and Erik Selvig were in the safe house, and it was time for Clint to head out with Jane. Of course, it would be easier if she weren’t freaking out. Clint could generally handle hysterical people, no problem. He grew up in the circus; he could deal with someone who was upset.

It seems, though, that “generally” doesn’t apply to the genius-science type.

She wasn’t worrying about her life or his or Darcy’s or Erik’s, or anyone else’s; she was worrying about the equipment, her research, the science. It was her life’s work, apparently, from what Clint could get from her current rant, and she wasn’t willing to give it up.

After a few minutes Clint was able to convince Jane that all of the work would be plenty safe staying with his men and, at the moment, her life was first priority.

She was now sitting in his truck, far more quiet than she normally was but hey, at least she wasn’t ranting anymore.

Right? Wasn’t that the better option? Clint hoped a quiet Jane was in a saner place than a ranting Jane. But Clint had always known that a quiet woman was a dangerous woman. Clint sighed; he had to bring her out of her own head.

“Jane?” Clint asked.

“Hmm?” She hummed in response.

“What do you like to do? You have interests outside of astrophysics, don’t you?”

Jane got a contemplative look on her face. “Bowling,” She responded finally.

Clint glanced at her with raised eyebrows, “Bowling?” he questioned.

“Yes. I like bowling,” Jane answered simply.

Clint laughed, “Alright, you like bowling. How about this; we make it out of this alien-god shit alive and I’ll take you bowling.”

Jane gave Clint a small smile, “You won’t win.”

“I think you’ll find that my aim is impeccable.”

“I’m sure it is, but you still won’t win.”

Clint smirked; that sounded like a challenge.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Clint are working through the inconveniences that come with hiding from bad guys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know where I'm going with this. I have a plan. And chapter 3 and chapter 4 started (though neither finished... way to go me!)  
> This is unbetaed because my beta is lazy and unreliable (that was mean, I love you Destynnee!) (she's not really unreliable) (I love her and she's my best friend so I can lie and be mean and feel terrible about it later if I want) so all mistakes are my own and I would appreciate comments about what's wrong! :D

Jane looked around the SHIELD appointed safe house. Safe cabin? It seemed equipped and sufficient and everything but… it was a one room cabin in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.

And the way Clint was talking, they’d probably be there for at least two days; standard SHIELD protocol and yada-yada. She didn’t really care. She didn’t want to be here, she wanted to be back at the lab, working on the Einstein-Rosen Bridge and making the discoveries she needed to make.

But instead she’s stuck in this cabin twiddling her thumbs while Clint tried to figure out what was going on and what had happened to Jones.

Finally Clint let out a sigh and hung up his phone.

“Bad news?” Jane asked.

“You know that old saying ‘no news is good news’?”

Jane nodded. 

Clint fixed her with an exhausted look, “That definitely isn’t the case here. No one can find Jones and since he was so integrated into the strategy and emergency procedures, we’ve got a real problem.

“Selvig’s going to be taken to a SHIELD base to start helping on a project based off of your research. Darcy’s going to another safe house at an undisclosed location and I’ll be taking you… somewhere. I haven’t got that far yet. Somewhere I can hide you from the crazies.”

Jane hesitated, “So… how much protection do I need?”

“Until we know what’s going on… a lot more than you’re going to like.”

Jane let out a sigh, “I’m probably not going to see my research again for a while, am I?”

“Probably not, Jane. I’m sorry you got dragged into this mess.” Clint gave Jane a meaningful smile, unfortunately smiles don’t magically make everything better.

Jane smiled sadly back at him, “It’s not your fault a God fell from the sky.”

…

The safe house itself wasn’t so bad. The cabin was comfortable and cozy and quite nice. The air conditioning kept it plenty cool in the New Mexico heat and the view from the roof was nice. 

Really the only downside that Jane could find was that everything other than the bathroom was shoved into one room. 

It would make a good cabin for a couple looking to get away for a few days or something. However, it proved a bit awkward when the two people sharing the cabin weren’t together. Or even know each other all that well. 

Jane was used to being able to bury herself in whatever project she was working on at the time and Clint was normally able to hide from everyone’s sight and just do his job. But in a small, one room cabin, they were practically falling over one another. They really didn’t have any chance of privacy and, while that was probably the point of her protection detail, Jane wasn’t handling it too well. 

She didn’t have anything to do. Nothing to read, nothing to watch, she didn’t even have a deck of cards. Clint was either on the phone or working over something that looked like blueprints. 

Jane put her head in her hands and sighed, she wasn’t sure just how much more of this she could take before she went insane. 

“Hey.” Clint said, sitting next to Jane on the bed.

“Hi,” responded Jane in a small voice.

“Losing it yet?” Clint asked, looking into her eyes. He had noticed her pacing and twitchy movements over the last couple of hours. He knew that the solitude and the monotony and lack of anything to keep her occupied was going to get to her pretty soon.

“I’m just bored, it’s nothing.”

“Is it bored, or is it nothing?”

Jane let out a small smile, “Bored, definitely bored.” 

Clint bumped her shoulder with his, “Well, there isn’t really much to do. And I can’t leave you here and go buy a game or a book or anything. And SHIELD would throw a fit if I took you off this property.”

“I know, Clint, don’t worry about it.” Jane said. He already was protecting her, worrying about people coming after her, she didn’t need him worrying about her going crazy here too.

“It’s my job to worry about it, Doc.” Clint frowned and looked around the room, “You could help me.”

Jane studied his face, “How?”

“You’re smart, you can read and everything, you can look through the routines and papers and the logs and see if anything looks out of place. I’ve been looking through them, trying to see if there was anything weird but I think my brain is revolting.” Clint explained.

“Are you looking for something that might explain what’s going on?”

“Yeah, or something that might explain what will explain what’s going on,” said Clint, “But I really need to work on arrangements for now too, we can’t stay here much longer.”

“Okay, I’ll help,” replied Jane, glad to finally have a purpose. 

…

Two days later Clint had an actual plan. Instead of sticking to the SHIELD safe houses he decided that taking Jane to a safe house only he knew about would be the safest option and Agent Coulson wholeheartedly agreed.

Jane looked around her new accommodations. This time they were in an apartment with actual rooms. The apartment was scarcely furnished and definitely had an unlived in vibe. 

“So… what is this place?” asked Jane finally.

“It’s a safe house of mine. Only I know about it so you should be safe. And as long as you follow some safety procedures you shouldn’t have to be totally isolated here.” Clint responded, flipping through the local channels on the ancient television set. 

Jane settled into the couch beside him, “And where is ‘here’ exactly?”

Clint looked at her sideways, grinning, “This house wouldn’t be very safe if I just went around telling every pretty girl that asked where it was, now would it?”

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes, used to Clint’s antics. He had always been the one to banter-fight with Darcy back at the lab and his presence definitely was helping her feel a lot calmer about the whole situation. 

“Thanks for doing this, Clint. You’re putting a lot of effort into this.”

“Well, maybe ‘this’ is worth it. Besides, I might finally get that raise I’ve been vying for.”

Jane smiled, lightly slapping at Clint’s arm, “You were almost sweet there for a second and you had to go and ruin it.” Jane stood, shaking her head, and made her way into the room that she was staying in.

Clint narrowed his eyes, looking after Jane, “You’d be surprised how good I am at ruining things.”


	3. Chapter 3 [Minichapter]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback:  
> Clint has a lot of reasons to run; here's one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a minichapter... like... I don't think I've ever written anything shorter than this chapter.  
> Ever  
> It's terribly short.  
> Terribly.
> 
> Chapter 4 is in the works though and I promise that it will be an actual chapter with at least a thousand words.  
> Promise.
> 
> My lovely beta is back so hopefully there aren't any mistakes. If there are, it's probably still my fault.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> (I think this note became longer than the chapter D: )

-flashback-

 

Clint looked around the apartment he had once called home. Now his things were gone, packed in unforgiving boxes, never to take residence here again. But so much was the same, probably because he didn’t have a lot and what he did have mostly went in drawers and not on walls.

No, the things on the walls were more Bobbi’s style. His wife, soon to be ex-wife, was the one that cared about decorating, that cared about owning things other than what was strictly needed.

Clint felt a soft hand and his back and turned to look at Bobbi.

She looked the same as she did the first time Clint met her—pretty and young and blonde and happy.

“Clint… we should talk. Things shouldn’t be so tense. We both wanted out of the marriage,” Bobbi said in that understanding way she had that made Clint want to slap her, because no one should be so nice.

Clint nodded, “Yeah… we should talk.”

“We’ve been through a lot together. You’re my best friend, Clint. Us and relationships... they don’t work. I don’t know why we’ve kept trying.”

“Yeah,” Clint nodded again. “We should talk. Umm… tomorrow. We can… umm… talk tomorrow. Coffee shop. Downtown. You know the one. Three o’clock. But… I’m tired… so… I’m gonna head home and get some sleep.”

Bobbi stared at Clint before agreeing. “Deal. Tomorrow at three. The coffee shop downtown. I know the one.”

Clint rubbed the back of his head, “Tomorrow”, and left the apartment for good.

The next day Clint was on a flight to New Mexico and Bobbi was coming to grasp the fact that Clint would never change.

But he would always run.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long, guys...  
> Between work and college I just haven't bothered myself with actually typing up this chapter.
> 
> On a similar note, I lose internet... tonight at midnight, I do believe. And I can't afford the bill until my next paycheck... which is a little over a week away. So... I don't know how long it's gonna be but I'll do my best.

Jane had gone through Clint’s notes and the security logs and all of the other information that Clint had, but she didn’t see anything that stuck her as out of place. The entire operation was normal. Well, at least as normal as a secret government safety operation could get.

After that, Jane didn’t have much to do. She could sit around and watch TV or stand on the balcony and people-watch, but neither of those seemed particularly fun. She knew Clint would take her out to do something if she was to ask, but lately Clint had seemed off.

Like he was stuck inside of his own head.

So Jane found an empty notebook and a pen and she wrote down any thoughts or ideas she could think of regarding the Einstein-Rosen Bridge—jotting down the things she knew. She hoped that laying it out in writing would give her some sort of breakthrough - an idea she had yet to have - a way to open the bridge.

But even though her head was clear from the break she’d had, she still wasn’t getting any new ideas regarding her work.

She couldn’t focus on the science; the physics.

Instead she thought of Clint and the lost look he had had in his eyes the last time she had seen him. That had been about an hour ago.

Jane walked out of her room and into the living room. Clint was sitting on the couch staring at the television. “Clint, you’ve been staring at the TV for the past hour, what’s wrong?” Jane asked, sitting beside him.

Clint stared at Jane with wide eyes, trying to figure out when she had come back into the living room. “I was watching TV,” he finally managed to say.

Jane frowned, staring at Clint before responding, “Clint, the TV has been off since last night. You’ve been staring at a blank screen.”

Clint groaned and leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. “I’m sorry, Jane. I’m just… lost in my own thoughts, I guess.”

“It’s fine. You’ve got a lot of responsibilities. If you ever need to talk, I’m literally here twenty-four/seven.”

Clint chuckled, head still in his hands. He was having a tough time. He didn’t have enough to do here. His job at the moment basically consisted of staying alert and that, unfortunately, left time for his thoughts to take over.

He couldn’t even stay alert because of them.

Clint felt a hand tentatively sliding up his back, resting on his shoulder blade. “Clint, are you okay?” Jane asked.

Clint sat up suddenly, turning towards Jane, finding his face practically touching hers. “I’ll be fine Jane, it’s just a bad day,” He finally said, leaning backwards some. Clint sighed and stood up, walking to his room and closing the door.

Jane’s frown deepened as she stared at the door to Clint’s room. She didn’t know what was going on with him, but he definitely wasn’t acting normal. He was generally upbeat, joking around and trying to put positive spins on every situation. Smirks and laughs were what Jane associated with Clint, not the sulking and brooding she was seeing from him now.

…

Clint settled on his bed, leaning against his headboard.

He was really starting to regret how things had gone with Bobbi. Not only was the divorce his fault, but he had also just walked away from it. He had promised Bobbi he would talk with her, but instead he went and requested a mission.

He ran.

He didn’t want to talk to her. It was inevitable that she would realize that everything is his fault and finally place the blame where it truly belongs.

And Clint was afraid that would be when he truly lost her.

He didn’t know what he was going to do when this mission was over; when he was left to his own devices. Bobbi was his ground and now he didn’t have that.

And it was all his fault.

If he wasn’t so bad with relationships—didn’t try so hard, didn’t act so casually—it would have worked. After all, they had been in love once upon a time, but that love had disappeared for a reason. And that reason had to have been him.

Clint was pulled from his thoughts when he noticed his bedroom door being pushed open. Jane walked in, frown still in place. She approached the bed and sat down next to Clint.

Clint met Jane’s eyes and placed a hand on her knee, “I’m fine. I’ll be fine.”

Jane nodded, eyes darting towards Clint’s hand, “You don’t have to talk about it... I just want to make sure that you’re okay and to let you know that I’m here if you need me.”

Clint smiled a small smile, “I know. Thanks, Jane.”

Jane bumped Clint’s shoulder with her own, “So... I was wondering how Darcy’s doing. This entire situation has to be driving her insane”.

Clint wrapped an arm around Jane’s shoulder, chuckling, “Martin’s reports say that everything’s going well, if you don’t count the - and I quote - ‘crazy, psycho, woman-child’”.

Jane’s smile grew, “That sounds like Darcy.”

…

Darcy was angry.

Well, angry was a bit of an understatement. See, this Martin guy, he seemed cool at first. But now he was really pushing it.

His name first found its way on her shit list when he found out that she had a taser and then confiscated it. Spouting “rules and regulations” and “safety concerns” bullshit, he took her taser and told her that she’d get it back when she was safe again. And that didn’t make any sense to Darcy. Wouldn’t she be safer if she had her taser? But, whatever. Darcy dealt with it and didn’t really protest after the initial telling-off she gave Martin.

But now she was done. The man had taken her taser, he wouldn’t return her iPod, and now he was refusing to let her talk to Jane.

He said he had no authorization.

So she asked to talk to Clint; he would let her talk to Jane.

But Martin denied that request, too. Said she had no reason to talk to the agent, that he had more important things to do than listen to Darcy’s incessant ramblings.  
So here Darcy was, standing in the doorway to Martin’s room. He was asleep, dead to the world, snoring louder than a chainsaw. Darcy smirked, some secret agent he was.  
Darcy opened the drawer she knew Martin had put her taser in, taking it out before grabbing Martin’s phone off of the side table drawer.

Darcy headed back to the other room, scrolling through the list of contacts.

Agent Barton.

Perfect. That was easier than she had anticipated.

“Barton”. Clint greeted after the first ring.

Darcy smiled, “Hey, hot-shot. How’s it cooking?”

“Darce? What’s going on? Is something wrong?” Clint asked.

Darcy frowned, “No, why would you think that?”

“Because it’s three in the morning and you’re calling me!” Clint said sounding exasperated.

“Well, that’s because your dick of an agent wouldn’t let me. So, I had to wait for him to fall asleep”. Darcy responded.

“Martin wouldn’t let you call?” Clint questioned.

“Nope. Something about authorization.”

“Authorization of what?” Clint asked after a pause.

“How should I know? Oh! And Agent Dickwad took my taser. I stole it back just now, but he took my baby!” Darcy told Clint.

Clint was quiet. “Darcy, where are you right now?” Clint finally asked in his super-secret-badass-agent voice.

“My room... why?” Darcy questioned. Clint didn’t use that voice with her often.

“Can you get out of the apartment without Martin noticing?”

“Probably... he’s a pretty heavy sleeper.”

“Then get out. Now.”

“What?”

“Leave, get out. Go down one flight—take the stairs. Go to room 3B, the door should be unlocked. When you get inside, you lock the door and then go to the hall closet. You need to stay in that closet until either me or Coulson comes to get you. Do you understand?”

Darcy understood perfectly. She was in danger. Great, all this for a poli-sci degree, just her luck. She stood, walking to the door, taser in hand, “Clint, what’s going on?” She finally whispered.

“Do. You. Understand.” Clint repeated, voice deathly calm.

“Yeah—yes, I understand. I’m going. But what’s going on?” Darcy responded with a squeak, racing down the stairs to the third floor.

Clint sighed, “I wish I knew, Darce. Just sit tight until I get there.”

“Or Coulson?” Darcy asked, reaching the closet.

“Or Coulson. We’re the only two you should trust, understand?”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“Good. I have to hang up now- when I do, take the battery out and smash the phone up best you can. I’m on my way.”

Darcy breathed in, exhaling slowly, “I’ll see you then, hot-shot.”

And then he hung up.

Darcy did as she was told, taking apart the phone and destroying it best she could.

Four minutes later there was a noise outside of the closet and the doorknob started turning. Darcy brandished her taser. She could handle this situation and whoever was on the other side of that door.

After all, she’s tased a god.


End file.
